Pokemon: Crown City's Final Hope
by FoxMcCloud7921
Summary: /watch?v M0PWg8AXkUk&feature related Raiden: My past is not a memory... It's a force at my back. It pushes and steers. I may not always like where it leads me... but like any story, the past needs resolution. What's past... is prologue.
1. Prologue

(A/N: Yes, I believe it's about that time now. I don't want people to think I was putting this story off because I wasn't. More like I had to wait until I got more info on a certain movie that came out in Japan this summer. But, I think for now I can do this so why not? Yes, this will be Raiden's last official (keyword official) story and of course I will finally tighten up the loose ends. Many things will finally be answered in this story and of course Raiden's not the only one involved in this. Um… I guess I should point it out now that RiRi and Shadow are not my characters but belong to Furyfur and godofmadness43, respectively. The song used here will be "Liberi Fatali" from Final Fantasy VIII. *Now then Raiden, let's kick this off then! For this title sequence, it's pretty much meant to show off a scene later in the story for cinematic purposes. Enjoy!

Update: As you can probably see, I took this down a little bit ago mostly because I wanted to change some things, but nothing too big so it shouldn't be an issue now. Sorry to have kept you all waiting!)

* * *

A lonely beach with only the sound of the crashing waves to accompany it. A cloudless day, leaving the sun out shining against the sparkling ocean.

"**If I were to lose you, where could I find you?"**

"**If I am lost, you can find me here."**

"**Here…?"**

"**Yes, I promise I will stay here. We will never be separated fully. I promise you that, as long as my friends are in my heart."**

"**I will remember…"**

The scene changed to a forested area in an unknown land. A Raichu was running through the forest but suddenly is attacked. He sees the attack coming from a Raichu like himself, only he has an evil look on his face. Without even hesitating, he goes after this other Raichu but it only runs away from him, as if toying with him.

Leading him deeper into the forest, the other Raichu soon turns back to finally face him. The first Raichu uses Iron Tail but his counterpart is quick and dodges it easily. He smiles, and boasts he is more superior and skills, but Raiden refuses to listen and keeps attacking. Eventually, Raiden lays an attack, but the Raichu, rubbing his jaw, shakes it off.

Amused by this, the Raichu then goes on the offense using a combination of fighting moves and Iron Tail. Raiden jumped back and dodged the attacks. However, he didn't see the coming Iron Tail as the blade against his tail slashed against his face, causing blood splatter. He quickly put a paw ho his face, feeling the wound and blood pouring out of it. The anger in him surged as a dark aura spread around him and baring his fangs charged against the Raichu.

**Pokemon  
Crown City's Final Hope**

"**You know, when you think about it, death can't be that bad for me."**

"**Why is that?"**

"**Well… at least I'll see my parents again…"  


* * *

**

(A/N: And as we roll the credits, the song I will use for them is "Ichirin no Hana" from Bleach, mostly to show dark and badass this story will be. So as you can probably see, this story will be the darkest yet of the stories I've done with Raiden. Funny how it progresses from light and funny to more serious as they go on. Then again, there still will be funny moments. So, just to let people know I do not own Pokemon because then Nintendo would own me… So until then people keep up your studies!)

FoxMcCloud7921


	2. A Tainted Heart

(A/N: Okay, as we start chapter one I just want people to remember that the first "chapter" was kind of a prologue/preview sort of thing. And also, if I didn't mention it, this story is supposed to be slightly based on the thirteenth Pokemon movie coming out. Anyway, to start this off, the song being used in this part is "Strange Whispers" from Kingdom Hearts.)

* * *

Chapter 1: A Tainted Heart

"_Your will is strong…but you have a fragile shell. Why do you fear and hate the darkness in your heart? It is only natural for it to be there and natural to let it flow in you."_

"_My heart is my own," Raiden said. "I choose the path I want to walk on. If I have to fight to stray away from the darkness, then I will."_

"_Heh, if I can recall, you weren't quite able to do that before. Your anger exposed the true side of you. Admit it, you are overwhelmed with the grief you experienced your entire life and would do anything to right the wrongs that have been committed against you. And besides, you know very well if you are in a life or death situation, you're going to need me…"_

"_No…my heart will never become tainted," Raiden said. "As long as I have those who I love, then my heart will always stay in the light."_

"_Hm… it seems this property dispute will have to be decided another time. No matter, I can wait as long as I need to, as I have many plans. Hehe… trust me on this…"_

Raiden suddenly woke up, looking around only to see he was still in Matt's room. He was breathing hard and saw that he woke up in a cold sweat. Shaking his lingering thoughts out of his head, he got up quietly and slowly not to wake up Matt or Kari, who was sleeping next to him, or RiRi for that matter.

He got up on the chair that was at Matt's desk and looked out up towards the sky. Was it all a dream before? He doubted it. It wasn't the first time he heard that voice inside his head. But what did it all mean? What plans were in stake? Raiden didn't know and he knew he had to be careful. Lately, he had been feeling pain all throughout him, mostly in his chest area. It definitely wasn't age-related, he was still rather young. Perhaps it was a tell-tale sign of something. Even Matt had noticed and became worried, taking him to the Pokemon Center. But even they couldn't figure out was wrong.

"_It may not even be real," _Raiden thought. _"For all I know, what I'm feeling could be non-existent, causing me to become afraid of what I could become." _He remembered what he saw in Jubilife. To think he could become like that was almost bone-chilling.

"Raiden?" His heart almost jumped hearing the familiar voice. He looked behind him and saw that RiRi was now awake.

"Oh RiRi, I'm sorry," he said, jumping off the chair. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

RiRi smiled while shaking her head. "It's fine," she said. "But I'm the one who should be concerned. What's wrong?"

"…It's nothing," Raiden said, looking away from her. "I woke up and had trouble sleeping."

"You had one of those dreams again, didn't you?" When he didn't answer, she sighed sadly and hugged him tightly. "Oh Raiden, of all the people and Pokemon in the world, why do you deserve to experience all this pain?"

"RiRi…" Raiden said, kissing her forehead. "Don't feel sorry for me. I can't help what has happened to me."

RiRi looked down as she pulled away from him. "Are you still in pain… from before?"

"No, it's gone now," Raiden said. "I can't say what caused it. No one knows. But for all I know, it could just be my mind telling me that."

"…Aren't you scared?" RiRi asked.

"To be honest, yes," Raiden said. *"I'm worried what will become of me. I'm worried what I will do if…"

"Don't say that!" RiRi whispered loudly. "I know you would never try to hurt anyone."

"You didn't see me that night RiRi…" Raiden said. "I killed a Pokemon just like that. I don't care if he wanted to fight me. I went too far and downright killed him. How can I justify for my actions?"

RiRi sniffed, feeling a tear form in her eye. "If you feel that anger in you," she said. "Think of me… Not just me, but Matt, Kari, Jack and everyone else. We're on your side Raiden. Never forget that."

"Thanks RiRi," Raiden said, hugging her. "We should get back to bed."

RiRi smiled and nodded. As she went back, Raiden looked back outside one last time. _"They say love conquers all…but would it be able to conquer the growing darkness in my heart?"  
_

* * *

(A/N: Okay, for this next part here, the song being used is "Starship Mario" from Super Mario Galaxy 2. In my opinion, it sounds like a song that would be used in Pokemon.)

* * *

*The next day, as the sky was almost cloudless and the sun was shining brightly, Matt, Kari, and Jack were inside finishing breakfast and drinking coffee. Jack had come by early in the morning, somewhat unexpectedly, while Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow were outside.

"You see RiRi, you just need to practice centering your attacks," Raiden was telling her. "For example, if you just have one opponent, you have to focus all of that power on that opponent. Like this." Somehow they had put a large post, although somewhat lopsided, into the ground in front of them to practice. RiRi currently had trouble maintaining the power of her attacks. Raiden then used Thunderbolt on it, although not too powerfully, and it left a decent sized dent in the wood.

"See, that wasn't too hard," Raiden said. "Now you try."

"Okay," RiRi replied. She then used Discharge but once the attack went off, part of it went upwards towards the nearby try and caused a branch to fall down. She then sighed. "I don't know why all of a sudden this is happening…"

"Don't worry about it, let's keep trying," Raiden said. "Hey Shadow, why don't you show her?"

"Sure," Shadow said, coming forward. He then used Hyper Beam and then ended up blowing the post into pieces.

Raiden sighed and sweatdropped while looking down. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yep," Shadow said, walking away from them.

"I knew I should've gotten Houndoom instead," Raiden muttered, which caused RiRi to laugh.

* * *

Meanwhile, Matt, Kari, and Jack were still inside. "So Jack, why did you come over here anyway?" Matt asked.

"Oh…" Jack said, suddenly becoming nervous. "Well… you know how we had that big event coming up tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we were gonna go to the beach and then go to the Valor Lakefront for the weekend," Kari said. "You won't be able to make it?"

"It's not really that," Jack said. He then sighed. "You see, my mom gave me tickets to the Pokemon Baccer World Cup. And well, I thought even though we had this whole thing planned out, I thought maybe you wanted to come as well."

"Wait, where is Crown City exactly?" Matt asked.

"Supposedly its southeast from here," Jack said. "Close to where Johto borders us."

"I don't see why we can't," Kari said. "We can always plan for another weekend."

"That's a good point," Matt said. "I guess we could come along. I didn't even know you watched that."

"The family is really into it. But apparently Crown City was an area back then that was protected by the three legendary beasts," Jack explained. "."

"Wait a minute… the three legendary beasts, in Sinnoh?" Kari asked. "I thought they came from Johto?"

"They do, but perhaps since Crown City is close to Johto, perhaps then the regions were bordered differently," Jack replied.

"Well it does sound interesting," Matt said. "Alright, we'll tag along then. Can we get there by train?"

"Yeah but we gotta go this afternoon," Jack said. "Pretty much why I rushed over here."

"So in other words we'll need to get ready," Matt said to Kari.

Kari just shook her head. "Leave it to Jack to throw a wrench into our plans."

"It was just an idea…" Jack muttered, causing the other two to laugh.

Matt turned on the television and on the sports channel they were showing previews of the match. "Oh wait, I guess I did watch a little of this. I'll admit it looks interesting."

"Anyway, I brought most of my stuff to save time," Jack said. "Are you guys ready as well?"

"I guess, since we initially had other plans…" Matt said.

"Matt…" Kari said.

"Sorry," Matt replied. "So, what time is it at?"

"Well, the Cup isn't until the afternoon," Jack said. "And these tickets also include the train ride there."

"So what time do we have to be at the train station?" Kari asked.

"Um…" Jack looked at the tickets. "In thirty-five minutes."

"WHAT!" both Matt and Kari yelled.

* * *

After having to have everything packed along with a fast car trip going about sixty miles through town, they finally made it to the train station with ten minutes to spare. "Jack," Matt said, the look on his face telling that he was pissed off. "You ever put us through that again, and I swear I'm gonna kick the living crap out of you."

"Eheh… Sorry about that guys," Jack said. "I'll make sure to look at the times better from now on."

"At least we made it here on time," Kari said. That being said, they got all their things and quickly boarded the train, which to no surprise was filled to almost max capacity.

"Wow, these people must be die hard fans," Matt commented.

"The stadium there is huge," Jack said. "I heard it can hold up to over 106,000 people."

"That's a lot," Kari said. "And hopefully we'll get good seats."

Soon, the train departed from the station and was on its way to Crown City. Meanwhile, Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow were looking out the window. The train fortunately had an empty compartment right next to where Matt, Kari and Jack were, so they were allowed to stay there for the trip.

"This sounds really exciting," RiRi said. "I never knew there was such a sport for Pokemon like this. It looks really fun."

"It's not really that interesting," Shadow said, who was lying down and had his eyes closed. "Of course, it's been on constantly this entire summer at Jack's house so you can probably see why."

"Well, I'm looking forward to just being in that stadium!" Raiden said. "The roar of the crowd, the intensity as each second goes by. It's exhilarating!" He then laughed. "What's wrong Shadow? Is someone a bit jealous that he's not on the stage with those other Pokemon?"

"Hmph," Shadow said. "If I was on a team, I could score on those guys in my sleep. Trust me, I've seen all these teams that played already…"

"But since we're on the train now, what are we gonna do?" RiRi asked.

As soon as realization hit them, they all sighed sadly. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of train rides anymore due to boredom," Raiden said.

* * *

(A/N: Well this turned out better than the other version I had. I'm gonna try to make this much more like the movie itself, but not exactly. I know I said I was gonna wait but decided otherwise, so here you all go folks! So then, hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember, it's the thought that counts.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	3. Corruption in Corporation

(A/N: Before I begin this, I should probably remind you all that this is based loosely on the events of the thirteenth Pokemon movie, meaning it won't be an exact duplication. In fact, some of the storyline will be "reversed", as you'll soon find out.)

* * *

Chapter 3: Corruption in Corporation

_One day earlier…_

There was no doubt about it. When it came to Crown City, the Kōdai Network was one of the largest corporations there in perhaps the entire Sinnoh region. How it got to where it was… that was another story. But no one knew what was going on behind the scenes…

In the middle of the night, in what appeared to be a metal cell, a large fox-like Pokemon was curled into a ball, sleeping to the low rhythm of the large engine in the plane they were flying in. Suddenly, a smaller Pokemon poked its head from her mane and yawned while looking around. However, the doors opened as light shone down on both of them, blinding the smaller Pokemon's eyes. The larger Pokemon then opened her eyes, the look of anger and hatred on her face. The outside resembled that of a stadium, or perhaps a training ground.

"Sorry to disturb you from your sleep Zoroark," a man's voice echoed from a speaker. Zoroark knew the voice almost immediately and she growled menacingly. The Pokemon that was sleeping in her fur woke up as well and looked towards the large window on the other side of the stadium. They could both see the man who was Kōdai, and both of them felt anger inside of themselves. The smaller Pokemon, Zorua, always referred to him as "the bad man", and indeed he was, although this was shadowed away from the public.

"Come Zoroark," Kōdai said with an evil smile on his face. All of a sudden, three Pokemon appeared before both of them. The legendary beasts: Entei, Suicune, and Raikou. Zoroark knew these were just holograms but regardless, Zorua was terrified, so she then got up and using her ability to transform, she transformed into an exact replica of Suicune and soon used Aurora Beam right at the window.

The woman working at the computer almost jumped out of her chair when the attack hit the window. However, Kōdai put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax Rowena," he said. He then pressed a button on a device that was strapped to his wrist and the attack changed into a dark purple beam of light. "It is only an illusion. Now then, rewind and play that last shot."

"Yes sir," she said. The camera that been recording inside the small hanger area had indeed recognized the attack and showed every detail.

"Perfect." Kōdai smiled. Now they could move on to the next step.

Another man then came into the room, a bit stockier than Kōdai himself and with a slight Mohawk haircut. His name definitely resembled his name. "Mr. Kōdai, we'll be arriving in Crown City within the hour."

"Good," Kōdai replied. "Now Goon, I want you to take Zorua and put him in a separate cell for now."

"Of course," Goon said, nodding and then leaving the room.

Zoroark, who had now changed back, was hoping to have pleased Kōdai enough that he would leave them alone. She sighed, missing her home. This was not the place to raise a child, especially one as young as Zorua was. Still, she would find a way out of this someday.

Suddenly, the man named Goon came into the room and grabbed Zorua. Before Zoroark could react, an electric cage surrounded and trapped her inside. She could only watch helplessly as Zorua was put into a cage as well, unable to fight back and was carried away out of the room. In rage, she bashed against the edge of the cage, only to be shocked by an electric current. She would end up doing this three more times before kneeling down in defeat.

* * *

(A/N: For this part here, the song I will use is "Only a Plank Between One and Perdition" from Final Fantasy VIII.)

* * *

Later on, as Zorua laid in his cage, he opened an eye to make sure the coast was clear. There was no doubt that Goon's guards would run into him, so he had to be quick. *He suddenly threw himself against the cage, causing it to fall down and open on impact. Once it was open, he quickly jumped out and dashed towards the door.

Once he went through the door and took a right, he immediately met the Scizor that belonged to Goon. "You guys don't scare me," Zorua said telepathically, with a smirk on his face. "Catch me if you can." He immediately ducked underneath them and dashed to the other side of the room, finding an open vent and climbing through it. He had no idea where it would lead to, as long as he could find his mother. _"Hang on Mema," _he thought, using the word that he always called his mother.

As he reached the end of the vent, he could feel cool air coming from the other side. Once he went through, he realized he was outside of the plane, on one of the wings. He looked over and saw a forest and a city, which the plane was starting to descend to. It almost reminded him of home. All of a sudden, a burst of wind came out of nowhere and Zorua was swept off the wing into the air and soon fell into the forest below.

* * *

The plane soon descended down to the lake that surrounded the entire city. Once in the water, the plane cruised to the closest open dock and soon the engines were cut off. They had made good timing, as it was still night time. _"Everything begins in the morning,"_ Kōdai thought.

"Mr. Kōdai." Goon suddenly came into the room. "I have bad news. It seems Zorua has escaped."

"I see," Kōdai said. "But it doesn't matter, for our plan has not changed. Now, go inform Rowena of her next objective."

* * *

_Present Day_

"Well, if anyone has any ideas of what we can do to kill time, feel free to comment," Matt said in a bored voice.

"We could always play cards," Kari said.

"Everytime we play cards you two team up," Jack said. "So that leaves me at a disadvantage."

"Well you could always team up with Shadow," Matt said jokingly.

"Ha, very funny," Jack said sarcastically as Shadow gave Matt a look. He then took a look outside of their door and then said, "Guys look." Matt and Kari peered out the door next to him and looked over at what Jack was seeing.

There were three trainers over near the refreshments aisle towards the front of the train and they each had a Pokemon none of them recognized. "What kind of Pokemon are they?" Matt asked.

"Oh, I know," Kari said. She paged through the tablet she had. "Those three Pokemon, Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, are from the Unova region, a region far out from where we are."

"Really?" Jack said. "You know, Cynthia was mentioning once that she would at some point come visit that area."

"So what do we do?" Kari asked.

"What do you think?" Matt replied. "We'll battle them just to see how strong they are, right Raiden?"

"Rai, Rai," Raiden said, jumping onto his shoulder.

"Wait, I don't think we're allowed to battle on the train," Kari said.

"There's no sign that says we can't," Matt shot back. "Besides, I know in Unova they have battles on trains all the time."

"Of course he looked _that _up," Jack said, shaking his head. "Alright Shadow, you up for some fun?" Shadow nodded.

Kari sighed and looked to her Pokemon. "I bet you want in on the action too huh?"

"Pachi su pa!" RiRi said happily.

"Hey you guys," Matt said to the three trainers. "Are you all from the Unova region?"

"Yes," the boy with the Snivy said. "This is Jessica and Karl," he added, pointing to the girl with the Oshawott and the boy with the Tepig. "And I'm Vince of course. We came to visit the Sinnoh region and see the Baccer Tournament."

"So, would you be interested in a Pokemon battle against the three of us?" Matt asked.

Vince smiled. "Now that sounds like fun, since we're not used to seeing the Pokemon you have."

"See, and you thought it was a bad idea," Matt said to Kari. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Alright then, to make things fair, you guys get to pick who you want to battle."

"Ladies first then," Jessica said. "We'll battle against your Mightyena," she said to Jack.

"And we'll battle against your Pachirisu," Karl said to Kari.

"Huh, well looks like we're going against Raichu, Snivy," Vince said.

"You'll have to be witty to beat all three of us," Matt said. "But I think we'll save _our _battle for last."

* * *

(A/N: Okay, for this next part, the song I'm using is "Pokemon Black and White – Trainer Battle Remix." If anyone is confused, there should be a drawing of Black and White with the three starters.)

* * *

Trainers in the other compartments came out to see the battle that was unfolding. *"Alright Shadow, use Dark Pulse!" Jack commanded.

"Dodge it and use Shell Blade!" Jessica said. Shadow sent out a wave of dark energy straight at Oshawott. Oshawott dodged it and picked up the shell on its belly, a sudden beam of light appearing. Shadow waited as Oshawott charged at him and jumped into the air.

"Now use Shadow Ball!" Timing it perfectly, Shadow used the attack as Oshawott had nowhere to go and was hit directly. "Now use Hyper Beam!" Shadow then shot out a large beam of energy from his mouth, hitting Oshawott directly again, knocking it out almost instantly.

It was Kari's turn now, as she had RiRi use Iron Tail and once Tepig dodged, she used Super Fang to get it directly. Karl, in a slight panic, had Tepig use Ember but RiRi dodged it with ease and finally used Discharge, hitting Tepig and knocking it out cold.

Finally, the anticipated battle between Matt and Vince, and both of their Pokemon were ready to duke it out. Matt had Raiden use Focus Punch to start things off and to his surprise, Snivy dodged it quickly. It was obvious that Snivy was a quick opponent, perhaps more so than Oshawott or Tepig. But that didn't affect anything as Snivy used Leaf Tornado. Raiden dodged the attack and used Iron Tail, hitting Snivy right in the face. However, Snivy used Vine Whip and managed to smack Raiden right in the face. But Matt had anticipated that and had Raiden use Thunder, shocking and paralyzing Snivy in place. Finally, Raiden used Volt Tackle to finish things off, hitting Snivy and sending it against the wall, knocked out from impact.

Everyone was stunned, especially the opposing trainers, at how strong these three Pokemon were. It's perhaps no surprise to know that all of them trained their Pokemon everyday. "Wow, talk about a blowout," Vince said. "Our Pokemon are still kind of new so we knew it was gonna be tough."

"Well, it was still a good battle," Kari said. "And fun too."

"So Matt, does that satisfy your craving for a battle now?" Jack said afterward.

"Hmm, I suppose for now," Matt said, grinning. "But Raiden and I are sure to find ourselves in a battle once we get to Crown City."

They couldn't have been more right about that.

* * *

The plane that belonged to Kōdai had been docked in the port for a matter of hours now. The hatch in the back of the plane soon opened up, showing the full view of the city. Kōdai walked towards the cage that Zoroark was in and looked her straight in the eyes. "Now Zoroark, I need you to run wild in the streets, disguising yourself as Entei, Suicune, and Raikou," he said. The look on Zoroark's face told him that she wanted no part in this. "If you fail to cooperate," he said, clicking a remote. On the wide screen to the left of them, a video shot of Zorua in his cage came up, the look of misery on his face. "Your dear child Zorua will face the consequences."

Of course, this was only a looped video feed but Zoroark fell for it, growling in anger. Kōdai then deactivated her cage, freeing her. "Now go Zoroark!"

Zoroark would have loved nothing more than to attack Kōdai and rip him to shreds. However, she could not do that and with a frustrated grunt, she quickly jumped out of the plane and headed towards the center of the city.

* * *

(A/N: To anyone who asks, yes I am gonna try sticking to the original plot, for the most part. I have my own little rendition but that will come later. And yes, I decided to show off the Gen. V starters in this, since both Zorua and Zoroark are Gen. V Pokemon. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember that this week is E3 week, aka my favorite time of the summer.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	4. Lockdown

(A/N: I just want everyone to know that I don't know all the attacks Zoroark used when she had taken the forms of the three legendaries so I went with the ones that made the most sense.)

* * *

Chapter 4: Lockdown

While indeed Crown City was called a "city", it still had its peaceful community, especially along the river that ran through it. Today was the big day for the Pokemon Baccer World Cup and many in Crown City were making their way towards the stadium.

One of those enthusiastic fans happened to be Peg, who was making her way downtown. Before she continued down, she stopped by the flower shop. "Hi Tammy," she said to the lady who was sweeping the front porch.

"Oh hello there Peg," the lady named Tammy said, a smile on her face. "I'm guessing you're heading off to the stadium for the World Cup?"

"Yep I am," Peg said, showing off her attire. The Magnemite and Magneton accessories she had in her pigtails told what team she was rooting for. "My team has heart and soul, so I know we can win it all."

"That sounds delightful," Tammy said, beaming. "Well, you take care now and have fun dear."

"I certainly will!" Peg said, running down the street, hoping she could get a good spot in line. However, she didn't get too far when suddenly a large Pokemon that resembled a lion jumped down onto the corner of the street and roared loudly. "E-Entei!" Peg stammered. Suddenly, Entei used Flamethrower, large enough to cover the entire street and she along with others who were around had to jump and duck behind the buildings to avoid being burned.

Entei charged forward, blasting off one of the large signs on the street and jumped into one of the backstreets. Then, Entei began changing forms and turned into Suicune. This was because it was actually Zoroark who was causing all this trouble.

She had never wanted to terrorize anyone, but with Kōdai threatening her child, what choice did she have? On the corner of the next street, she used Surf, causing a huge wave of water to come crashing through the streets. In reality, nothing was getting destroyed or washed away. This was mostly to scare people away, but no doubt that Kōdai's team was at work editing what was seen on camera. Shortly after Zoroark had left, Kōdai has sent out drones with cameras to capture the "destruction" that was taking place.

Meanwhile, Zoroark made her way upwards towards the clock tower, the highest building in the city and changed into Raikou. Using Thunder, the sky began to turn dark as a storm came rumbling in. Once it seemed enough, she finally returned to her own home. She hoped this was enough, for right now all she wanted was to see Zorua.

* * *

Back at the dock, Rowena was monitoring the cameras that had been sent out. Some of what had been recorded had been certain areas that were supposedly destroyed, but Rowena had done some editing to the video. Once she played it, Kōdai, who was with her, said, "Alright, rewind it and add the edited feed."

Working quickly with her typing, Rowena replaced the actual video with the edited, so that now when Entei used Flamethrower, everything it touched now exploded into flame. "Excellent," Kōdai said. "Now to prepare my apology to the public." And with that, he left the room.

Rowena let out a sigh of relief, finally able to be alone for once. The job she had was not easy, and now that she thought about it, she could still remember her first day.

"_Mr. Kōdai," Goone said. "This is Rowena, our new assistant." _

"_I'm glad to have you on board Miss Rowena," Kōdai_ _said, shaking her hand. It wasn't long before he started groaning in pain and putting a hand to his head._

"_Mr. Kōdai?" Rowena asked, going forward to help but Goone put a hand on her shoulder to stop her._

"_Do not worry," he said. "Mr. Kōdai is having a vision."_

It was that day when she realized what led to Kōdai's rise to power. And now that she knew it, she could use that same information to bring his downfall.

* * *

"You know," Matt said. "I was hoping that the battle before would make everything go quicker. But, it seems I was wrong." Unfortunately, after the battle, everything went back to being boring again.

"Well, on the bright side, we're only minutes away now from the city," Kari said positively.

"Wait a minute," Jack said. "If we're minutes away, then why is the train slowing down?" Indeed, the train was slowing down. Apparently something was wrong.

"Please don't tell me we're experiencing something after being _this _close," Matt groaned. They were still going at a slower pace and then stopped in front of a large crowd that was standing outside of the city limits.

"Well, this is odd," Kari said. "I wonder what's going on." The doors opened for people to come out and soon the three of them were among the crowd.

"Excuse me," Jack said to a girl who was wearing a backpack with Magnemite apparel on it. "Do you know what's going on?"

"They're blockading the city because the three legendary beasts showed up in the city and are causing havoc," the girl said, who just happened to be Peg.

"The three legendary beasts?" Matt asked. He knew that she meant Entei, Suicune, and Raikou. "Why would they be here?"

"I don't know," Peg said. "But I had a close encounter with Entei and it meant business."

Soon there came an announcement from the police. "Due to the current situation, all blockades have been set around the city limits. Until we can find out what is going on and handle the problem, this city quarantine will remain in effect and therefore the World Cup has been postponed. If anyone wishes to stay, there are hotels available in the nearest town in the area and if anyone cannot, you are free to get a refund on the tickets you have purchased."

"Bummer," Peg said sadly. "And I've even dressed for the occasion today too."

"Well, I suppose we can always stay at a hotel for the night if need be," Matt said.

"But we still have some time before the train leaves since they'll have to bring in more of them for everyone," Kari said.

"Well, I for one need to walk around a little bit," Jack said. "There's a forest clearing over there. Let's check it out."

Luckily it was a nice day, and while they went through the forest they felt a cool breeze move throughout the pathway. "Well this feels a lot better," Kari said. "I still wonder why those three legendaries are running through the city though."

"Well, something must have upset them," Jack said. "Unless someone's pulling a prank."

"A prank?" Matt asked, confused.

"Hey, it's not hard to use a projector and special effects," Jack said confidently. "Of course, I could be wrong but if asked why, maybe someone just wants to disrupt the World Cup this year."

"I think I'm gonna go with what the locals said," Kari said, sweatdropping slightly.

Soon they got to the edge of a cliff that led to an open valley. "This might be a good spot to stop and relax," Matt said.

"Wait, do you hear something?" Jack asked. There was a rustle coming from the bushes on the other side and soon out came a small fox-like Pokemon that was being chased by a group of Vigoroth.

"Uh oh, that Pokemon look's like it's in trouble," Kari said.

"Don't worry I got this," Jack said who called out Jet. "Jet, give that Pokemon over there a hand will ya?"

"You go with him Raiden," Matt said. Raiden nodded and jumped onto Jet's back.

Meanwhile, Zorua, who happened to have upset the group of Vigoroth, found himself at the edge of the cliff and when looking back saw five pairs of eyes glaring at him. "You guys back off," Zorua said, his trademark smirk on his face. "I ain't afraid of you."

Luckily for him was when Jet and Raiden showed up in front of him. "Scram you two," the Vigoroth leader said. "Our beef isn't with you."

"Don't you find it cowardly that you had to have four other guys come with you to teach this Pokemon a lesson?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, we don't tolerate cowardly acts like that," Raiden said. "So maybe you should scram."

"Or what?" the Vigoroth said. "You gonna fight us?"

"If you do, I assure you're gonna regret it," Jet said.

"Besides, do we look like the kind you _want _to fight against?" Raiden asked.

The Vigoroth was silent for a moment. "Fine," he said. "But tell your buddy he's getting off easy." And with that the Vigoroth went back to their home.

"Ha, that works everytime," Jet said.

"You alright?" Raiden asked Zorua. Zorua nodded, choosing not to speak at the moment.

"Good work you two," Matt said when they finally caught up to them. "I hope they didn't hurt you at all."

"Not a scratch," Zorua then said. "Thank you very much though."

As was expected, there was a short silence. "Did that Pokemon just use Telepathy?" Kari asked.

"Yep I did," Zorua said happily. "My name's Zorua."

"Um, nice to meet you Zorua," Matt said. "I'm Matt and this is my buddy Raiden."

"My name is Kari and this is my partner RiRi," Kari said.

"I'm Jack," Jack said. "And this is Shadow. I can see you've met Jet already."

"I'm so happy I have new friends," Zorua said. "Now you can help me find mema."

"Mema?" Matt asked.

"I think he means his mother," Kari said. "Where is she?"

"My mom and I were captured by this bad man," Zorua explained. "We were taken from our home and since then been on this flying thing."

"A plane," Jack said. "Well, this sounds interesting."

"And right now I think she's somewhere in the city," Zorua said. "So we have to go find her."

"Well, I never thought I would come face to face with a rare Pokemon," Matt said. "And one that can talk too."

"Oh, I can do more than that," Zorua said, smiling. All of a sudden, he changed into an exact replica of Matt. Well, except for his tail showing in the back that is. "See, my mema and I can change forms. But she's better at it than I am."

"Okay, you are not going around like that," Matt said, grabbing his tail. That made Zorua change back to his original and snickered.

"Sorry, it's too much fun sometimes," he said. This time, he decided to change into Raiden and then jumped up onto his shoulder. The look on Raiden's face told that he wasn't too thrilled about having a "clone" of himself, especially on his master's shoulder.

"You know," Kari said as they walked back. "I get this feeling we're gonna be sucked into a whole new adventure."

"Story of our lives," Jack said, sighing as they returned back to where the large crowd was growing even more.

* * *

(A/N: And that will do it for Chapter 4. As I might've mentioned before, this will not be exactly like how the movie was shown, due to the fact that I only saw the movie once and that was about five months ago. So I hope you can bear with the fact that some events might be different or not even shown. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember, it's that time of the year for getting sun burn so apply plenty of sunscreen.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	5. Beyond the Veil

Chapter 5: Beyond the Veil

Once Matt and the others had returned, there was a man on the broadcast, speaking to the public. "To the people of Crown City," the man said. "I apologize for what has taken place. The Pokemon you have probably encountered are not the legendary beasts that I own, but only one Pokemon."

Zorua reacted, once seeing the man's face. "That's the bad man!" he cried, jumping off Matt's shoulder and then transformed again into a replica of Kari, his tail showing in the back, and took off towards the front of the crowd.

Kari's eyes widened. "Hey!" she yelled and followed him, along with Matt and Jack.

"A Pokemon known as Zoroark," the man continued as they all looked up towards one of the screens. "I will do everything in my power to make sure this wild Pokemon is captured once again and no longer disturbs the peace of this great city."

"Who is this guy?" Matt asked.

"Grings Kōdai," a voice replied. They looked over and saw a man with short curly hair, wearing a sports cap. "Name's Karl," the man said. "I'm a reporter from Crown City and I'm currently working on a secret investigation involving the Kōdai Network."

"My name is Matt," Matt said. "And this is my buddy Raiden."

"I'm Jack and this is my partner Shadow," Jack said.

"And I'm Kari," Kari said. She then looked to Zorua, who was still in her form. "And um… this is my, uh, cousin."

"Oh really?" Karl asked, smiling. He then walked over and saw Zorua's tail. "You can't fool me Zorua," he added, grabbing his tail. Zorua reacted and changed back to his original form with a smirk on his face and snickered.

"You know about Zorua?" Jack asked.

"My fellow reporter and I were aware that this Zorua and its mother were taken from their home," Karl explained. "And it seems that Kōdai is using Zoroark to clear out the citizens of the city so he can begin his plan without interference."

"What exactly is Kōdai up to?" Matt asked.

"Kōdai has a reputation of being 'the man who could see the future,'" Karl said.

"See the future?" Kari asked.

"That's right," Karl said. "Because of this, Kōdai has been able to make huge profits and his network has become one of the largest in Sinnoh. But he's up to something else now and it's my job to find out what."

"But the whole city has been blockaded," Jack said. "How are we supposed to get in?"

"Just so happens I know a way to get back in through the sewers," Karl said, taking out a Pokeball. "Come on out Bronzor!" Once Bronzor appeared, Karl then said to the others, "I might need your help in this. Would you care to join me?"

The three of them nodded without hesitation and soon they found a manhole and quickly made their way down into the sewers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zoroark was making her way through the city. All of a sudden, she turned the corner and there before her was Zorua. Zoroark, her heart suddenly leaping, ran over to him when suddenly a large cage surrounded her as Zorua disappeared, a mere hologram that was created. Goone and his Scizor showed up, obviously the ones behind the trap. Zoroark was about to let out a loud cry but was it was shut down as a metal exterior covered the entire cage.

"Recapture of Zoroark successful, Mr. Kōdai," Goone then said as the car he was driving opened up in the back, picked up the crate Zoroark was now in and tied it down as the group made their way back to where the plane was docked.

"Good work," Kōdai said into his communicator, meanwhile on the other side of the city. "We will regroup once you drop off our little friend."

Kōdai was making his way through the city on a small hovercraft, when suddenly a large burst of pain went throughout his head, causing him to stop. "A-Another vision?" he said. Suddenly pictures zoomed through his head: a large crack of light, close to what looked like a clock at nighttime; an image of Celebi, with Kōdai himself having his hands around its neck, causing another vision to take place and then finally, a group of trainers with the last being- "Rowena?" After that, the vision stopped, causing Kōdai to be out of breath.

"_Now it makes sense," _he thought once he regained his composure. His last vision, which occurred when meeting Rowena, had a similar event taking place, a light that appeared to be ripped in space. _"The time rift," _he thought. _"My powers are fading, so I must find this rift in order to regain them." _He was curious about the last part of the vision with the trainers. They obviously were against him, but what was Rowena doing there? Kōdai decided to ignore the last part for now, for his current objective was to find Celebi, for the Pokemon was the key to unlocking where to find the rift.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the center part of the city, one of the manhole covers began to rise up and moved to the side. Then out came Bronzor, who had used Psychic. Then, Karl and the others made their way up to the top. "Good, look's like the coast is clear," Karl said, returning Bronzor.

"Hey wait a minute," Kari said. She pointed to one of the statues. "Wasn't that statue shown destroyed on the TV screen before?"

"Most likely it was an illusion," Karl said. "You see, Zoroark and Zorua can change into other Pokemon, but their moves do not actually affect anyone. And if that's the case, then that means-"

"That video feed was edited," Matt said.

Jack, however, was looking at something else. "Hey Karl," he said, looking towards what appeared to be a statue of Celebi. "What's this statue of Celebi here for?"

"Ah," Karl said. "There's a story to that. About twenty years ago, Crown City wasn't what you see now. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Twenty years ago, most of the plants and trees here were dead. See those trees along the street? Those were the same trees that had supposedly died."

"What happened?" Kari asked.

"No one knows," Karl said, shrugging. "Despite the hard work people put into restoring everything, it was almost hopeless. Then, almost out of nowhere, a rift in time was created and then Celebi appeared. It is said that at that time, the Celebi that came was from twenty years in the future. Almost instantly the whole town was restored and as such, this statue was created as a memorial for Celebi and its deeds."

"It still doesn't explain how or what Kōdai is up to," Matt said.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Karl said.

"Why's that?" Jack asked.

"There _are _other reporters working on this case," Karl explained. "One of us will get to the bottom of this."

That moment, Zorua started sniffing the air. "That's mema's scent," Zorua said. "She has to be close by!" He then took off without hesitation.

"Zorua!" Matt called out. "Raiden, go follow him." Raiden nodded and quickly ran after him.

Zorua kept running until he got to the corner of the street, where a TV post had been installed. The broadcast Kōdai had recorded looped throughout each television set. The words Kōdai kept repeating, saying how much of a monster his mother was, along with his hatred of the man caused Zorua to leap up and smash the screen, cutting the broadcast off.

Unfortunately, at that moment, a Mightyena had showed and it was obviously not Jack's for it growled and bared its fangs at him. "What, you wanna go?" Zorua said, smirking once more. "Come on, I can take you." Suddenly, something grabbed him from behind and turned around to see it was a Tangrowth. "Hey, let me go!" Zorua then said as Tangrowth cast Sleep Pollen on him. "I can take you… just… let me…" Zorua was then knocked out, fast asleep.

Raiden, who had just showed up, had seen the whole scene and was about to attack but the look in the two Pokemon's eyes told him they were not enemies. "Hey, what happened here?" Matt said as the group finally caught up to them.

Upon seeing Karl, the Mightyena quickly lunged forward and went after him. "Watch out!" Jack said.

However, what happened next was something they did not expect. The Mightyena had knocked Karl to the ground and was licking his face while Karl laughed. "It's good to see you too, boy," Karl said, petting him.

"Karl?" They all looked over and saw two people coming over.

"Grandpa? Tammy?" Karl asked, quickly recognizing them. "What are you two doing here?"

"Heh, guess I could ask you the same question," the man said.

"This is my grandpa, Joe," Karl said, introducing them both. "And this is our friend Tammy, who works at the flower shop."

"I see you've all met Karl," Tammy said sweetly. "A fine boy if you ask me." She then saw Tangrowth and what was in its arms. "Oh Tangrowth, who's that?"

"It's a bit of a long story," Karl said.

"Well, no point talking out here," Joe said. "Let's go back to my house, that way we won't be spotted."

* * *

After introducing one another, they quickly got down to business. "So you're saying Zoroark isn't the real mind behind all this?" Joe asked.

"That's right," Matt said. "And Zorua here is its child."

"But why would Kōdai steal these two Pokemon in the first place?" Tammy asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's obvious they're important to his plans," Karl said. "The only problem is I'm still in the process of finding out what those plans are."

Zorua then stirred in his sleep and woke up slowly. "Ugh, mema…" he said softly.

"Oh good you're awake," Tammy said. "We both apologize for before."

"So I guess the question is what are you all going to do now?" Joe asked.

"If we can find Zoroark, maybe then we can get an idea of what's going on," Karl said. "After that we'll try to confront Kōdai himself."

"Well, just be careful out there," Tammy said. "If the police or any of Kōdai's cameras spot you, things will go downhill quick."

"Wait, I'm curious about something," Kari asked. "How come both of you decided to stay here after the city had been quarantined?"

Both Joe and Tammy smiled. "We couldn't possibly leave our own homes," Tammy said.

"We care so much for this city," Joe added. "What occurred twenty years ago was truly tragic, and all of us were determined to make things right again."

"That's the truth of it all," Karl said. "Grandpa and Tammy put so much hard work in preserving the beauty of Crown City. But we better get moving before it starts getting dark."

* * *

Once they said their goodbyes, they left the house and made their way back onto the streets. "Alright Zorua," Matt said determinably. "Your nose will lead the way for us."

What they didn't know at that point was that with the soon arrival of a certain Pokemon, Matt, Kari, Jack and their Pokemon would soon embark on an adventure unlike any other.

* * *

(A/N: Okay… after like two days of me being a complete derp and not being able to write anything, I finally finished this chapter. Once again I will say that this story will not be 100% accurate to the actual movie because 1). It's been awhile and 2). I have my own little twists to fill in. So until then my loyal viewers, keep on keeping on and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	6. The Return

Chapter 6: The Return

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a sudden rift in space appeared above one of the many courtyards. Out of the rift came a small Pokemon; this Pokemon was Celebi. Celebi looked down at the small bushel of flowers and without any effort managed to make the flowers on there bloom without hesitation. This pleased Celebi, as it made its way around the area, rejuvenating any flowers or trees that may have wilted.

Little did it know of the large target sign it had on its back…

* * *

As Matt, Kari, Jack, and the others made their way across the city, they kept following Zorua, who had caught Zoroark's scent. However, Zorua noticed the scent becoming stronger. "She must be close!" he said and started running towards one of the courtyard areas.

"Hey Zorua, wait up!" Matt said as the others started running after him and Raiden went out ahead to catch up with him just in case. Turns out once again Zorua managed to get involved with other Pokemon, who obviously weren't too pleased to see him.

Raiden tried to calm down everyone but apparently the wild Pokemon were linking Zorua to his mother, hence the angry glares. "Uh oh, this could get ugly," Jack said once they finally caught up.

However, before anyone made a move, another Pokemon showed up and was floating in the air right above them.

"Is that-?" Kari asked.

"Celebi," Karl said, surprised himself. "I had no idea it was here now, but then again, it has been twenty years since that day."

Celebi smiled brightly and soon went around a small tree and it suddenly bloomed with fruit. Taking the fruit, Celebi offered to all the Pokemon and soon the wild Pokemon forgot about the dispute that almost took place.

"It's a good thing Celebi showed up when it did," Matt said. "But why is it here?"

"Hmm…" Karl said. "Now that I think about it, there was more to the story I mentioned. Apparently the Celebi that showed up twenty years ago came from twenty years in the future."

"So that means that Celebi went back in time to stop the city and the trees from suffering," Jack said.

"But if Celebi is here now, then that means it foresaw something happening in the future," Kari added. But before anyone could ask what, a swarm of Ninjask appeared and went right after Celebi. The legendary, fearing that these Pokemon were not friendly, quickly ran off as the swarm chased after it.

"Oh no we have to help," Matt said. But before they could do anything, they were quickly surrounded by a large metal cage, all of them except Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow. With the three of them looking at their trainers in panic, Matt then said, "You three go on ahead and help Celebi. We'll be fine, don't worry, just go." The three Pokemon looked at each other and nodded. They quickly took off, following the swarm of Ninjask.

Unfortunately as they found out, the cage was electric, so there was no way to break out. Shortly afterward Kōdai and Goone showed up. "I should've expected you all were here to stop me," Kōdai said, a smile on his face. "But with you all out of the way, now my plans shall go a lot more smoothly. Take them back to headquarters Goone."

"Yes sir," Goone said, and soon the cage they were in sealed up and were soon taken back to their base.

* * *

Meanwhile, Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow were chasing down the Ninjask that were chasing down Celebi. "You have any bright ideas?" Shadow asked.

"See that house coming up?" Raiden said in between breaths. "If we can get on the roof, we can take care of the Ninjask there." They quickly jumped their way up towards the top of the roof and ran across the small space that was the tip of the roof. "Now RiRi!"

RiRi quickly acknowledged and used Discharge. The attack hit all the Ninjask and knocked them out. "Nice work RiRi," Shadow commented.

"Thank you, I try," RiRi said, smiling.

"It's alright now Celebi," Raiden called out. "You're safe now."

"You couldn't be anymore wrong," a voice said. Suddenly a Mismagius appeared.

"What the-!" Raiden said, but Mismagius did not stop to chat. It immediately used Shadow Ball against Celebi but managed to dodge it. Celebi, realizing how much danger it was in now, decided to make a rift in space, causing a large gash in the air before them.

Unfortunately for the three Pokemon, they were in the wrong place in the wrong time, as the rift started sucking them in. Celebi quickly made its way towards the rift. "Oh no you don't!" Mismagius said, using Psybeam to cut Celebi off. However, Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow could no longer hold on and were immediately sent through the rift, which closed almost immediately as Celebi fled and Mismagius retreated back to where its master was.

* * *

Back at headquarters, Rowena was still searching through files when she came across files that were protected by a password. It had to be a six-letter word and once she thought about it, it came to her quickly. Typing in "VISION", she came across files dealing with Celebi, a time rift, and events that took place twenty years ago, along with other bits of information. _"I can't believe what I'm seeing," _she thought.

Suddenly, Goone's image came across the big screen, catching Rowena off guard and causing her to freeze. "Rowena, we just caught some intruders going through the city. Mr. Kōdai wants you to go down there and interrogate them."

Rowena, who slowly pushed the laptop she was looking at from sight, said, "Very well, I will go down there now."

Rowena quickly made her way down to the cargo hold, and upon seeing the large cage before her, hit a keypad which opened the cage up and there inside were Matt, Kari, Jack, and Karl. "I hope you all realize what you've just got yourselves involved in," she said.

"You can drop the act now you know," Karl said, smiling. The other three were slightly confused by this.

Rowena laughed slightly. "Fine, fine," she said, taking off her glasses and letting down her hair, giving her a different appearance. "I'm a reporter like Karl here and I've been working undercover on this case."

"You mean she's the undercover reporter you were talking about?" Kari asked.

"That's right," Rowena said. "Now then, let's get you out of here and I'll explain more on the way."

* * *

Perhaps he felt like he was dreaming, but once Raiden woke up, he could feel the pain in his head, as if he landed straight on it. He then looked up and saw that both RiRi and Shadow had been knocked out as well. Once his vision balanced out, he took a look around.

They seem to be in a forest but for some reason the trees looked dead. In fact, everything looked dead, including the grass, bushes; even the sky looked dead with its gray overcast. "Why does this place look familiar?"

Soon the other two started waking up and shook off the pain. "Raiden, w-what, where are we?" RiRi asked.

"I have no idea," Raiden answered. "But for some reason I feel like I've been here before."

Shadow took a look around and sniffed the air. "That's because we _have _been here before."

"Here?" Raiden asked. "How?"

"You don't recognize it?" Shadow said. "This is the same forest where we first met Zorua."

"What?" RiRi asked. "That's impossible. This whole forest is dead."

"Wait a minute," Raiden said. "We went through that rift Celebi made. That means we're no longer in the present."

"Correct," Shadow said, nodding. "And if the story holds true, we might be twenty years in the past."

"…Twenty years?" RiRi asked. "We weren't even alive at this point, and neither were our trainers."

"But how do we know we're in the past?" Raiden asked. "We could always be in the future."

"I guess we'll find out," Shadow said.

Raiden groaned. "Why does this sort of stuff always happen to us!"

"You idiot be quiet!" Shadow snarled. "We don't know what could be around here or even if they're friendly, so we have to go around quietly in the meantime."

Raiden rolled his eyes in annoyance but agreed. "Okay, then the first thing we should do is go to the city and see if maybe we can find out some answers."

"Agreed," Shadow said. "So for now, let's blend into the shadows." And with that, he quickly went out of sight.

"Raiden…" RiRi said, looking at him. "I'm scared. We don't know what's going on or how we're even going to get out of here."

Raiden smiled and put his paws on her shoulders. "Don't worry RiRi," he said, kissing her nose softly. "We've been in plenty of situations like this before, so surely we'll find a way out. I promise."

Unfortunately, once they reached the outskirts of the city, it looked they weren't even going to be able to get inside. "When the hell did they put up such a huge wall?" Raiden asked. "I don't remember seeing this."

"Um…" Shadow then said.

"What's wrong Shadow?" RiRi asked.

"I'm afraid Raiden may have been right," Shadow answered. "We're not twenty years in the past; we're twenty years in the future."

"What makes you say that?" Raiden asked.

"Just look up." Both Raiden and RiRi did this, and once they did, they saw a large skyscraper, almost sticking of the city like a sore thumb. Of course at this point there were more skyscrapers in the city but this particular one stood out due to the large letter "K" that was shown in neon lights. This building was the major spot of the Kōdai Network.

"Okay Shadow," Raiden said. "It's obvious that we can't go in the city now, because one, we stand out too much, and two, there's probably hundreds of cameras that could tell our identity. Please tell me you have a plan to solve this problem."

Shadow was known for having brains _and _brawn, but looking upon the city before them, as if their greatest enemy was standing there gloating at him, nothing could come to him. "I… have no idea what to do." He looked at them and they could tell he wasn't bluffing. "Guys, I think right now we are royally screwed."

* * *

(A/N: So, I probably said before I was going to keep doing Pokemon Beginnings and stick to that for the time being. Well, a certain reviewer returned to me and I felt obligated to go back to my usual routine, that way I would not disappoint her nor would she feel obligated to kick my ass. Not that she could but… anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and yes this is where my rendition of the story comes and trust me, you're going to enjoy what's ahead.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	7. The Other Raiden

Chapter 7: The Other Raiden

After Rowena had gotten Matt and the others out of the cage, they managed to find a boat and made their way back into the city as Rowena explained her findings. It was also getting dark.

"I found some important data that was hidden in one of Kōdai's files," Rowena said. "It talks about time rifts, ones that appear when Celebi travels through time. Somehow the events of twenty years ago and Kōdai are connected, but that I still have yet to figure out."

"So Kōdai needs to find Celebi again to regain his powers?" Matt asked.

"Not just Celebi," Rowena answered. "Perhaps the encounter was unintended, but the power within such a rift may have been what gave Kōdai his powers in the first place. But there was one other thing. There are structures around the city which are known as time gates. The numbers on them are a countdown to when the next time rift will take place and Kōdai is using these to find where the next time rift will take place. By now he has probably looked at all of them, but he hasn't found it yet, so we still have time."

"But if they've all been searched, where are we going to find it then?" Kari asked.

"If we go back to my grandpa's house, he may know the answer," Karl answered.

All of a sudden, they heard a noise and once they looked they saw a figure floating over to them. "Celebi?" Matt said. Celebi looked winded, but there was no doubt as it had to outrun Kōdai's Pokemon.

Celebi soon started explaining what had happened, although it was hard for them to understand. "Wait a minute, Celebi created a time rift and Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow were all sucked into it?" Jack asked.

"Then they must've gone back twenty years into the future," Karl said. "And who knows what that's like."

"Oh poor RiRi…" Kari said. "I hope they're okay."

"They'll be fine," Matt said reassuringly. "As long as they stick together they should be safe."

* * *

(A/N: For this part, the song I'm using is "A Brief Respite" from Final Fantasy XIII.)

* * *

Safe was perhaps not the best answer for them. For right now, they were lost in a world that was no longer familiar to them. They were still undecided about going into the city but for now they were going through the forest to find any answers. "This worries me," Shadow said as they walked. "We haven't seen one single wild Pokemon. It's almost as if they disappeared along with life here itself."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Raiden asked. "Even I'm starting to get the creeps of this place." He looked ahead. "Wait, there's something ahead." They kept walking forward and soon found themselves at the edge of a lake.

"Hmm, the water is still clear," Shadow said. "This is getting weirder by the minute."

"Ooh! Water!" *Suddenly, RiRi came from behind and cannon balled into the water, splashing both Pokemon.

"RiRi!" Raiden yelled. "What was that for!"

"Oh relax Raiden," RiRi said. "I mean, after all that we went through before, don't you think we all deserve a nice break for once?"

"Well… you do have a point," Raiden said. "Aw what the hell." He quickly jumped in as well, splashing Shadow again.

Shadow sighed and shook himself dry. "Am I the only mature one around here?"

"Come on in Shadow," RiRi said. "The water feels great."

"I'm fine," Shadow said. "But I think I'll take a look around and see if I can find anything."

"Sheesh, you just can't put a damn smile on his face can you?" Raiden muttered.

"That's just how he is," RiRi said, leaning against his chest. "But at least we're alone now."

"Oh yes, making love in a dreary looking forest," Raiden said. "How romantic indeed."

"I was kidding of course," RiRi said. "But you know, this place really is giving me the creeps."  
"I know," Raiden said. "I realize we haven't seen any Pokemon, or humans for that matter, but I feel as if we're being watched."

"Are they hiding from us?" RiRi asked, holding onto him.

"I don't think it's a group," Raiden replied. "Just one, and to be honest that unnerves me even more. Let's wait till Shadow gets back and then we'll move on."

Once Shadow returned, he came up with nothing. "Wherever we are now is as dead as everywhere else," he said.

"So should we go back to the city?" Raiden asked as he helped RiRi out of the lake.

"I'm still unsure if that would be a good idea," Shadow said. "Even if we're twenty years in the future, I'm sure something occurred in the present that caused all this to happen again. This is why Celebi went back."

"And now we're stuck here…" RiRi said sadly.

"On the bright side, there's still the chance that Celebi can come back and rescue us," Shadow said.

"If that's so then why hasn't it happened yet?" Raiden said in an annoyed tone.

"I don't know," Shadow simply said, making Raiden want to punch a tree. "I don't understand time travel so well but I remember being mentioned was that a time rift would soon appear in the city in the present, which would mean that we would find one here as well."

"Figures we have to wait…" Raiden muttered. "Okay, so what do we do now? We can't stay here."

"Alright fine, we'll check out the city," Shadow said. Suddenly, he stopped and his ears perked up quickly.

"What is it Shadow?" RiRi asked.

"There's something close, behind where you two are standing," Shadow whispered. "I don't know what it is but apparently it's been keeping an eye on us."

"Alright then, I'll check it out," Raiden said, turning around.

"Wait a minute Raiden," RiRi said. "It could be dangerous. We should go together."

"I'll be fine," Raiden assured them. "After all I beat… two legendaries by myself so just stay here and wait for me. I'll give a call if I need you."

"Just be careful," Shadow said. "We may need the extra firepower."

Raiden ignored the last quip and went deeper into the woods. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful lush forest that they had encountered before became such a barren place in only twenty years. Something had definitely happened, something not natural.

The fact that it was so quiet made Raiden anxious. One snap of a twig would get him going if it was close enough. But Shadow was right, something was watching them, and he had a bad feeling about this. All of a sudden, a hazy fog blew in, obscuring everything from view. _"Great this just amplifies the creepiness by ten," _Raiden thought.

But once he looked through the fog, he could see something in the distance, something standing there. It wasn't like him to be this nervous, but the fact that the figure just stood there sent chills down his spine. Shaking his head slightly, he continued forward slowly and almost as quickly as it appeared, the fog started dying down. Soon the figure started materializing in front of him. What Raiden saw next made him frozen to the core. "…No way," he said, looking at who was standing right in front of him.

"What's wrong?" asked the Raichu staring back at him with a wide smirk. "Never looked yourself in the mirror before… Raiden?"

* * *

Back at the harbor, Kōdai was in his office, slouching back in his chair, staring at the setting sun. He thought back to when he first acquired his powers, back when he was a normal human before his network came to power. It all started twenty years ago…

_The large forest that bordered Crown City was lush and green, even in the nighttime. Kōdai was making his way through the forest, wearing a brown robe over him to keep him concealed. He soon came to an opening with a large tree in the distance. What he saw next would change everything._

_What looked like a crack in space appeared and then a familiar looking Pokemon came straight out of it. "Celebi," he said quietly. He knew that the Pokemon would show up here. "Shuppet, use Shadow Ball!" he said. The Shuppet that was accompanying him fired a Shadow Ball at Celebi, knocking it down. Smiling, Kōdai made his way over to the Pokemon but Celebi got up and made a dash towards the time rift. "Oh no you don't," Kōdai said, aiming what appeared to be a metal claw on his wrist and pressed a button to fire it. _

_However, by the time it fired Celebi was going through the rift and once the claw went through, a surge, almost like an electric shock shot through and started going through Kōdai's body. He was certain that it would be enough to kill him, but he was thrown back as the rift disappeared. All of a sudden, the trees, grass, and bushes started to wilt and almost in seconds became brown and dead._

_Kōdai was panting as he got back up but soon another jolt of pain hit him as pictures started flowing through his head. All of what would take place went through him and once the vision stopped and he managed to catch his breath, a smile came to his face. Not only that but a chuckle. Soon his chuckle became a laugh and he laughed as loud as he could, realizing the power he now controlled._

But as Kōdai stared through the window, he realized his power was fading from him. If he does not find the time rift in time, he would lose his powers for good and his fame and power would soon be cut short. But he had a plan, and as soon as the sun set, it would be set into motion.

* * *

(A/N: And now you all have met Raiden's… other me I guess you could say. If you are perhaps confused, rest assured it will be explained in the next chapter, whenever that is. To be honest, I'm surprised I got all of these chapters uploaded as quick as I did, so I'm thinking to make up for it, I'll probably take a day or two off, other than the usual one day break. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and no Furyfur, Emolga is not a wh*re.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	8. Janus

(A/N: So I think what I'm gonna do is have perhaps the next couple of chapters pretty much all be Raiden's chapters, meaning that they all take place from where he's at. I've realized with the other part, there's only like three or four more chapters worth of story so hopefully I can extend the story out as best I can. I'm still trying to find a name for Raiden's "dark side" but I decided to base his voice on Johnny Yong Bosch.)

* * *

Chapter 8: Janus

Raiden could only stare back at the figure that stood before him. It was like looking into a mirror, but this Raiden had a dark aura within him. "This must be some kind of joke," he then said. "You can't be me… that's impossible…"

"Oh this is no joke," the other Raichu said. "You think it is impossible for there to be two of us in one place? Perhaps, but the balance of time has been adjusted, and what you see before you is what has occurred twenty years later."

"That still makes no sense," Raiden said angrily. "I wouldn't be alive after twenty years."

"Ah, so you think," the Raichu said. "But then again… I am not Raiden… even if this is his body. I guess I should properly introduce myself. Even though I have no actual name, I've been referred to as Noctis, symbolizing the darkness that lives in your heart. And you're right; you wouldn't be alive after twenty years. But as I've said, I have control of this body and therefore have been able to… how should I say it… preserve it?"

Raiden shook his head in disbelief. "Even if what you say is true, I'll never be willing to let the darkness into me."

Noctis laughed. "You fool; don't you think that is what you did after all this time? True, you were willing to resist it at all costs, but there is one thing that keeps it growing inside you. You have more anger and hatred in you than most other Pokemon or even humans for that matter have. The loss of your parents, the rejection of the ones who took you in… your life has been an uphill battle from the start." He paused for a moment. "Do you know of the Roman god Janus? The god who has two faces? Despite your "good" heart and the love you express to ones you care about, you are a constant vessel of anger, which always has led to you slipping to the darkness."

Raiden quickly snapped and lunged at him with his tail. "Shut up!" he said, even though Noctis suddenly disappeared. "I am not weak."

"Oh but you are weak," Noctis said, appearing next to him. "How many times have you been found helpless and had to resort to your anger to save yourself. Your anger is what keeps you strong. Without it, you are nothing."

Now it was Raiden's turn to smile and chuckle. "You really think I'm that easy to break, huh?" He then looked at his other self. "True, I've had my rough spots in the past but I know one thing. Despite whatever you've thrown at me, I've overcome it, even if I still have scars left over from it."

"Raiden!" RiRi was calling him and most likely she and Shadow were heading this way.

"We'll see what happens," Noctis said, smirking. "After all, it's a matter of time before you're truly put up to the test. We'll see how strong you truly are." Soon he quickly disappeared.

"Raiden," RiRi said, coming up to him and looking where he was staring. "What's wrong, did something happen?"

Raiden broke off from the trance he had and looked into her eyes. "No… everything's fine." But even as he said, the thought in his mind was that he was hoping to get out of here as soon as they could. If not, he was sure bad things would happen soon.

* * *

Soon they had gone back to the lake they had been sitting at. It had been awhile and unfortunately, they still haven't had anything to eat. "We won't last much longer like this," RiRi said.

"Oh come on RiRi," Raiden said. "Everyone knows that you can survive almost three days without food. And we have all the water we need right here."

"She has a point though," Shadow said. "We don't know how long we'll be stuck here and there appears to be no source of food here at all. If we're going to get food, there's only one other place to go."

"The city?" Raiden groaned. As much as he was unwilling to go in there, he needed the food to keep his energy up. This… Noctis person, whoever he truly was, had something in store for him whether he wanted to mention it or not. "Alright," he said finally. "I guess we really don't have a choice now. "But I have a feeling we're really gonna have to do this silently, aren't we?"

For once Shadow smiled. "Just so happens I'm good at being stealthy. But… it's best we wait until the morning. It's getting dark and most likely security will tightened around this time."

* * *

Once it got dark, the three of them laid down on the soft ground, ready to get some sleep. As was expected, Raiden and RiRi were sleeping next to each other. "Raiden," RiRi said. "I need to ask you something, and I want an honest answer. What happened earlier?"

"It was nothing RiRi," Raiden replied, who had hoped she would've ignored the past events.

"Come on Raiden, the look in your eyes gave it away," RiRi said, stroking his fur gently. "You looked like you saw a ghost or something."

Raiden's eyes drifted downward. "Wouldn't really consider it that…"

"So you _did _see something…" RiRi whispered, smiling to herself. "You know you can't hide things from me that easily."

Raiden sighed. "Look, even if I told you what happened, you would laugh at me."

"Why would I laugh?" RiRi replied. "You really think I wouldn't believe you."

"I don't even know if I can believe what I saw myself." Raiden looked back up at the stars, which seemed to be the only nice thing left in this forest. "Fine… I'll tell you. I… saw a future version of myself…"

He looked at RiRi, expecting to see her burst out laughing. But she did not. "Future version…? You mean it was you twenty years from the present?"

"I know it sounds ludicrous," Raiden quickly said. "But even though it was _my body_, it wasn't me I was talking to."

"What does that mean?" RiRi asked, now confused.

Raiden didn't even want to talk about this next part but he knew he had to. "I… at some point after today, I'm going to lose myself completely and… I won't ever be _me _again… if that makes any sense."

"Why would you lose yourself?" RiRi asked. But soon she understood. "Oh… but wait a minute! The Raiden I know would never let that happen!"

"It's not that simple," Raiden said dully. "It's… hard to explain but… that was who I saw…"

"Well I don't believe it," RiRi said simply. "The Raiden I know and love would never give up on anything, even on any challenge that seems too daunting. Are you telling me that Raiden isn't here anymore?"

Raiden flinched slightly at her tone. "No RiRi… I'm still here. I'm willing to do whatever I can to fix myself completely. I don't know I can do it, but I know I can figure out a way. But I know what's more important now is getting out of here."

RiRi smiled. "Now there's the Raiden I know and love…" She then pulled him closer and kissed him. Raiden wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeper, but RiRi giggled and decided to pull away. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "And no, we can't. Shadow wouldn't want to see that."

"Since when did you become a psychic-type?" Raiden joked. "Besides, I bet if we're real quiet…"

RiRi smirked and flicked his nose gently. "No Raiden," she said, somewhat amused. "We can't waste our energy on such… inappropriate manners. Maybe after when we get home but… not now okay?"

"I thought you were supposed to be cheering me up?" Raiden said sadly, but RiRi smiled and punched his arm lightly as a friendly reminder.

"Go to sleep dear," she said, laying against his chest. "And save those dreams for later."

* * *

The next morning, or what hopefully appeared to be morning, the group set off back towards the city. Of course, getting _inside _would be a bit harder than they probably had expected. "Alright Shadow," Raiden said. "You said you could get us inside."

"I said I could get us _around _in the city," Shadow stated. "But I do have an idea and I hope you two are good at holding your breath."

Raiden was confused by what he meant but when he saw they were next to the river that went through the city he said, "You have got to be kidding me…"

* * *

It was a good thing they didn't have to be underwater long. None of their lungs were made for breathing underwater for a large amount of time. Once they resurfaced, they managed to come across a part that didn't attract many people. Of course, there were many people elsewhere walking outside, strangely more than what they saw in the present.

After hiding behind a building that obscured all from view, Shadow told both Raiden and RiRi to listen carefully. "I didn't get a really good look out there but I can only imagine they're probably dozens of cameras around here. This means we have to be quick, and we all have to move at the same time. Okay?"

"We understand Shadow," RiRi replied.

"Alright," Shadow said. "I'm going to take a slight peek. When I tell you to go, we're going to make for that small shop across the street."

"Don't you think maybe we're taking this a little too seriously?" Raiden asked.

"Well that depends," Shadow said, looking around the corner. "Unless you want to get caught and Arceus only knows what could happen. Even if it's been twenty years, Kōdai could still be here and he would recognize us almost soon enough."

"Lovely," Raiden said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, the coast is clear," Shadow said. "Let's go now." And instantly, they moved across the street to where the store was, which also happened to be a café.

"So Shadow, what are we going to do here anyway?" RiRi asked.

"Find some answers," Shadow said, peering into the window slightly. Thankfully most people wouldn't have noticed his face from the inside. "There are Pokemon inside. Maybe we can ask what has been going on in the past twenty years."

"Anyway in?" Raiden asked.

Shadow looked around more. "There," he said, noticing a small open window near the top of the roof. "Hmm… we could try going through that but we'd only be able to fit in a small Pokemon." Then it came to him. "I have an idea."

"Um… Shadow why are you giving me that look?" RiRi asked nervously.

* * *

(A/N: Well obviously I hope you get what Shadow's idea is. Anyway, I'm glad this chapter got done sooner than my other one. -_- But no matter. So, hope you enjoyed this chapter and to all the people who have to get up at 6 in the morning, I have to get up with you so I know your pain.)

FoxMcCloud7921


	9. Going Under

Chapter 9: Going Under

"_I cannot believe I'm doing this." _That was what was going through RiRi's head as she made her way up the side of the building towards the window. Being a squirrel did have its advantages however. Once she got to the window sill, she took a quick look around to make sure no one was looking. She then slowly opened the window little by little until she knew she could squeeze through.

RiRi was surprised she had yet to hear, "Oh look there's a Pachirisu up there!" Which was fine by her. Unfortunately as she went through the window she failed to notice there was not enough space to walk out on and suddenly she fell from the window into a pile of boxes that soon went everywhere.

"Damn it, son of a bitch, mother-!" she whispered loudly. She wanted to squeak out more but she had to hide somewhere else quick before she was found. Luckily, the employees there didn't think twice of the sudden event and told someone to stack them back up. Once she found herself hiding between two booths, she took a look around. Thankfully she happened to find a Pokemon, an Electrike, who was sitting close to it's trainer on the floor. The Electrike's trainer, who was a female, was on the phone and the Pokemon didn't look too thrilled to be where he was.

RiRi had to be cautious though, so she decided it was best to address the Pokemon from a safe distance. She then walked up close to it and whispered. "Pst! Hey, you!"

The Electrike turned to look at her and had a confused look on his face. "You talking to me?"

"No you're mo- yes you!" RiRi whispered. Her patience was already thinning and this Pokemon was not helping. "I need to ask you something."

"Hmm… well normally I'm not the one to be giving a tour guide around here or something, but you're cute, so I'll let it pass," Electrike said.

"Thanks… I guess…" RiRi said. "Anyway, what can you tell me about this place, or what's happened here the past twenty years?"

The Electrike looked at her in surprise. "You're new around here aren't you?"

"You could say that…" RiRi said lamely.

"Well… everything at one point was all fine and dandy," the Electrike explained. "Then the next thing people know, all the plant life here practically dies out. Doesn't make a lot of sense if you ask me. Anyway, then there's news that this network called the Kōdai Network takes over the whole place and now everywhere you go there are cameras everywhere. Kind of weird to be honest. It's just not the same as it used to be, and trust me I've seen pictures from before."

"I see then," RiRi replied. "Well, thank you for the help." She then made her way towards the exit.

"No problem at all," the Electrike said. "Hey, maybe I'll see you around, sugartits."

The last word he said froze RiRi in her tracks. _"Sugartits! Oh he did not just say that word…I swear to Arceus I should just- no RiRi… stay calm… we can't cause a scene in here…"_ She then quickly went outside, no longer caring and ran back to where Raiden and Shadow where.

"Hey RiRi," Raiden said. "Did you find-!" He was then interrupted as RiRi latched herself onto him and started bawling. "RiRi what's-?"

"Someone in there called me sugartits!" RiRi cried, sobbing into his shoulder, leaving both him and Shadow confused.

"What the hell does that mean?" Shadow asked.

"Oh… it's just a term involving Mel Gibson or something…" Raiden murmured.

* * *

"So from what we know, the events that took place forty years in the past are occurring once again now," Shadow said. "The question is how did it happen and how is Kōdai involved?"

Unfortunately, his audience had other things on their minds. "How can someone say that to me!" RiRi cried, her eyes red and puffy.

"When I find that jackass who called you that his ass is grass!" Raiden growled. Shadow sweatdropped, realizing after twenty minutes the past event was still on their minds.

"Raiden, do I have a big butt?" RiRi asked.

Raiden suddenly flushed red. "Um… well… I mean it's not _big…_but it's not like tiny either… I mean you have a big tail that you curl up in so that kind of hides it." _"Do I want her to have a big butt? Wait, what the hell am I saying?"_

"Smooth one…" Shadow said.

"Well… I ask cause well…" RiRi then blushed. "I don't have a big chest of course. In fact, I think my tail makes up about fifty percent of my body. Maybe to other electric-types I'm just that sexy." Raiden cleared his throat suddenly, pretending he didn't hear that last part.

"Okay will you two just drop it!" Shadow then snapped. "Have you two even been paying attention?"

"Of course," Raiden said. "And we all know Kōdai is behind everything."

"It came to you like that?" Shadow asked.

"Well who else can it be?" Raiden asked. "Besides, it's horribly obvious because the villain always is in a huge corporation."

"Team Galactic was the only other group we've gone against," Shadow reminded him.

"Exactly," Raiden replied.

Shadow sighed. "Raiden, your intelligence amazes me sometimes." Still, while Raiden hasn't noticed, Shadow has been studying him for awhile now. Ever since he and RiRi came back he's been acting differently, much more impatient and getting upset easier. Something was wrong but now was not the time to ask. "But even so, that's not our biggest problem. We need a way to get back to the present and warn the others."

"And how do you suppose we're going to do that?" Raiden asked. "Call out Celebi's name and hope it appears?"

"I am certain that Celebi has been here before and therefore can find us," Shadow said. "But for now, we need to watch our backs and go to the source of the problem."

"You mean…?" RiRi asked.

"That's right," Shadow said. "We need to find where Kōdai is."

"Are you insane!" Raiden yelled. "Now, I don't know how many Pokemon he may have but no doubt wherever he is is probably a fortress. How could we possibly get in?"

"Easy," Shadow replied. "We find where the main building is, find some sort of vehicle to hide in and we'll be in easier than you can say 'Mightyena.'"

"And if we get caught?" Raiden asked.

"We'll probably be killed," Shadow replied simply.

"That seems to be the common outcome around here," Raiden said, sighing.

* * *

It was tough maneuvering around the city when all eyes seemed to be watching everything, but the three managed to find just where Kōdai's building was. The only hard part was getting inside. "We have to keep an eye on all traffic coming in," Shadow said as they once again were going through the sewers. "It's a short amount of time but if we hurry, we can get inside without anyone even noticing."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Raiden asked. "There are most likely cameras in there as well."

"Well that's why we have to tread carefully," Shadow said. As soon as they got back to the surface, they were about two hundred meters from the building.

"There's a van coming already," RiRi said.

"Perfect," Shadow said. "Well, you all know what to do." As soon as the van came by, they all latched themselves to the bottom of the vehicle. It didn't take long for the van to reach its destination and once it came to a stop, the three of them quickly hit the ground, watching the people get out and head towards what appeared to be an automatic sliding door in the back part of the building. Once they went inside, the three Pokemon came out from the van.

"Hmm…" Shadow murmured, peering inside. "No cameras here, how strange. Well, works out for us." He stomped his foot hard against the pad, causing the door to open and soon they went inside.

"You still haven't explained what we're going to do if we find Kōdai," Raiden then said.

"He won't say anything to us," Shadow replied. "But I know his Pokemon will. Plus, there's another reason why we're here. I think Celebi may be here as well, captured."

"How is that possible?" RiRi asked. "Celebi was-"

"If things are the way they are here, then it means Kōdai won, and it also means he has Celebi, who can continue to give him his powers." Shadow then looked down. "Or… it could mean Celebi may no longer be with us…"

"I won't believe it 'til I see it," Raiden said. "Let's get this over already."

"The elevator would the easiest way to get to the top," Shadow said. Raiden nodded and then cautiously made their way towards the elevator.

* * *

One of the personnel on the top floor was cleaning the floor when he heard the elevator ring and looked over as it opened. Oddly enough, no one appeared to be in it. Scratching his head slightly, he let it go and continued down the hallway.

Once it appeared to be clear, the three Pokemon dropped down from the ceiling in the elevator and continued their way. "If I was human, this whole thing would be a lot easier to do," Raiden grumbled. They went straight, hoping to perhaps find a sign for Kōdai's office. Instead, doors of executives, CEO's, you name it. It seems the Kōdai Network has grown considerably in the past twenty years.

"It seems rather empty here," RiRi commented. "Are we here on the weekend?"

"Even if we were, there would still be more people here than what we see," Shadow replied. "Something's not right here."

They kept searching around and around until finally, they came across a sign that read, _"Grings Kōdai, President." _But even his office looked empty, the lights looked like they were off, and even the door was locked.

"Okay, now I'm definitely feeling uneasy about this," RiRi said. "No one is here, not even Kōdai."

"What the hell is going on?" Raiden asked.

Shadow was silent. He was thinking, and it did not take long for him to realize just what was going on. "Damn it," he then said. "I should've known. We've been played this entire time."

"You mean…" Raiden began.

"They knew we were coming," Shadow replied grimly.

"Oh I'm afraid it's much more than that." The sudden unfamiliar voice made their hearts stop and chilled them to the bone as they slowly turned around.

* * *

(A/N: Hey everyone, sorry I was gone again for so long. I decided to take a week off and did that while playing Final Fantasy VI, which I just beat today and it was awesome! Anyway, I should hopefully be back on track with everything so I will you all NEXT TIME!)

FoxMcCloud7921


	10. Escape!

Chapter 10: Escape!

The second they heard the voice behind them, Raiden, RiRi, and Shadow turned around slowly. "No way," Raiden said. "That's impossible." It seemed impossible because the Pokemon in front of them was a Mismagius, almost the same Mismagius they had confronted in the present. "How can you still be… alive?"

"I'm afraid I do not understand what you mean," the Mismagius said. "I don't recall ever meeting any of you."

"Oh stop the lying!" Raiden snapped. "We know you were there when-!" But he was stopped when Shadow stepped on his tail intentionally.

"Are you really going to explain what's been going on!" Shadow roared. "You clueless, mindless dolt!"

"You are a strange bunch," the Mismagius said. "But regardless you've broken into a very important and I can see why you are here. You're looking for Celebi… aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Raiden said, clenching his teeth in pain and wishing Shadow hadn't done that.

"Don't play dumb," the Mismagius said. "I could read your minds clearly. I do not know how you found out about all this, but I do know Mr. Kōdai would not be willing to relinquish his most important asset to a couple of lowly Pokemon such as yourselves. Even if you wanted to find it, Celebi isn't here. However, I now have to remove you from these premises permanently."

"_Three on one gives us an advantage," _Shadow thought. _"All we have to do is overpower him and when we have the chance we can escape."_

"Shadow, RiRi," Raiden then said. "You guys make your way out of here."

"_I swear he fits the role of 'all brawn, no brains,'" _Shadow thought. "Raiden, we can easily stop him together-"

"I know," Raiden interrupted. "But there could most likely be more around. I'll keep the big guy busy."

"But Raiden!" RiRi exclaimed

"Just go RiRi!" Raiden snapped. "I'll be fine. Besides, I owe the guy anyway for before."

Shadow would've loved to remind him that this was not the same Pokemon but held his tongue. "Come on RiRi," he said and with reluctance the two headed back towards the elevator.

"Alright big guy," Raiden then said, smiling. "Just you and me now. Pokemon e Pokemon."

"You are certainly confident," the Mismagius said. "But I sense you're hiding something. Something you're not willing to reveal."

"That may be true," Raiden replied. "But I don't need a crutch to kick your ghostly butt."

"Then we shall see who's truly going to be doing the butt-kicking," the Mismagius said, smiling wickedly.

Seeing as it was important to get out, Shadow and RiRi decided to use the stairs. Unfortunately, the flight went on for about ten floors. "Shadow why on earth couldn't we just take the elevator again!" RiRi said between breaths.

"If you want to get stuck and ambushed in a metal box, be my guest," Shadow replied. Unfortunately, going the alternate way didn't fool anyone as they were quickly surrounded by other Pokemon on the stairway. Shadow had to think quickly. They could try to get past them, but more would come. Then he realized they were right next to a window. "RiRi, grab on to me and hold on tight."

"Shadow what are you doi- ahh!" RiRi hadn't expected Shadow to take the dramatic route as they crashed through the glass and fell out of the building. Lucky for them they found the top of a semi. Painful, but it was better than getting splattered. They quickly got off but realized they weren't being followed.

"Strange, they're letting us go," Shadow said quietly. "We better get going."

"Are you nuts, I'm not leaving Raiden behind!" RiRi said defiantly.

Suddenly there was the sound of sirens and Shadow had a feeling where they were going. "We can't stay here." He looked at her and sighed. "Look, I know you're worried but one way or another Raiden will make it out. We can't be a burden and get captured."

RiRi hesitated and soon agreed, deciding to follow Shadow back to the forest. _"Raiden, please make it back in one piece."  
_

* * *

Coming back in one piece for Raiden seemed debatable as he was sent through one of the walls that divided up the rooms on the floor and got slammed into another one. Getting up slowly, cut and bruised, he realized he clearly underestimated his opponent. Electric attacks didn't do much good and if he even tried to get up close, all the Mismagius had to do was use Shadow Ball to fend him off.

"You're getting exhausted already?" the Mismagius said, floating in front of him. "Pitiful, especially since you're not willing to show your full potential. But I suppose that means you are frightened to reveal who you truly are."

"I'm not scared," Raiden said, panting slightly. "Resorting to such a thing only makes me look weak." Using this opportunity, he then shot forward and jumped into the air to use Iron Tail.

Mismagius sighed. "Then you are a fool." And then before Raiden could land the attack, Mismagius used Shadow Ball, which connected with Raiden and sent him back once more into a large pile of rubble.

Raiden, at his limit, was starting to regret his earlier choices. _"I can't beat him on my own, he's just too strong."_

"_Then perhaps it's my turn to play then." _That familiar voice sent a shiver down Raiden's spine.

"_No! I will not resort to using you!"_

"_You are too weak to resist me, and I know I am the only way for both of us to get out of here alive."  
_

* * *

(A/N: For this next part, the song I'm using here is "Last Order – Crisis Mix" from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.)

* * *

Meanwhile, Mismagius floated above the pile of rubble. "What a waste of time," he said mockingly. "But it's one less thing I need to worry about." *He started to float away but heard something and stopped. "Hm?"

All of a sudden, there was a _bam! _as the rubble cleared in a blast of smoke. It was then when Raiden appeared, his cheeks sparking angrily with electricity. Mismagius knew he was now facing a new opponent and was very intrigued. "So… you've finally shown your true form," he said. "Now let's see if the odds have been evened…"

Raiden gave a smirk and moved quickly, almost double his speed from before. Mismagius then used Night Shade, which drove Raiden. But with his newfound energy, he managed to deflect his attack and use it back on him, causing Mismagius to fall back for the first time. _"His power and energy have almost doubled!" _Mismagius thought. _"Why on Earth would he be so willing to conceal it?" _"Not bad," he finally said. "But you are still at a disadvantage." He then used Shadow Ball once more on him.

This time, however, Raiden gave another smirk and _swatted_ the attack away from him. "Not bad," he said mockingly. "Now how about this?" From his own paw he created a ball of energy himself, larger than the one Mismagius had, and sent it flying straight at him.

Mismagius was stunned. One, because he swatted, _swatted, _his own attack away like a fly, and two, because this electric-type was all of a sudden able to use a ghost-type move. He didn't even move and got hit by the attack, sending him crumpling to the ground. "I-Impossible!" There was no way a regular Pokemon could learn Shadow Ball, even if there were some exceptions. And more importantly, how could he use it now and not before? Mismagius realized he was most certainly going against a new opponent. "Who are you…?"

Raiden laughed. "Not so pitiful anymore, am I?"

Now Mismagius was afraid. This Pokemon was not normal and had to be eliminated immediately. "I don't know what you are but you must be put in your place!" He then used Dark Pulse as a final desperation attack. The attack hit Raiden directly, causing a small explosion and smoke to billow out.

But as the smoke cleared, Raiden appeared to be unscathed completely, not a scratch on him. He merely shook his head and then with a burst of speed used Iron Tail. Mismagius was gone within seconds. "Now who's the fool?" Raiden asked. But soon however he had company joining him. The ruckus had evidently alerted them to where he was, and was now surrounded. Raiden looked to both sides, noticing where they were all standing. "How utterly annoying…" Without much effort, he then used Dark Pulse as well, sending them out the windows on both sides about ten stories high. They wouldn't survive the fall.

Once it was clear, Raiden made back down to bottom ground and as soon as he touched ground, he was panting and slightly wobbly, reverting to his old self. He let himself go again, and because of it, he committed acts he himself was not willing to do. _"Maybe I am weak…" _he thought. _"Maybe it all makes sense now. Is this my destiny, to become something I'm not in order to protect the ones I care about?"_

And the worse part was, Shadow and RiRi had left him. He knew he told them to go on without him, but he wished they could've at least waited for him. He curled his paws into fists, feeling almost betrayed. No, he thought. He couldn't be mad at RiRi, for he knew she wouldn't leave his side unless she had no choice.

But Shadow was another story. The whole thing was a waste of time; a waste of time and an opportunity to get themselves killed. He didn't know where this anger was coming from, probably still feeling the effects from before.

There was no point in just standing there, thinking about it. It was raining now, he was getting wet, and if he didn't get back to shelter soon he could catch something. The irony of getting sick in the future. He couldn't help but smile a tad, despite how he was feeling. But something was still boiling in him, and he knew he had to let it out on Shadow. He wouldn't like it, but for right now, he just didn't give a damn…

* * *

"_Your conscience is finally accepting the truth," Noctis said in his head. "Without me, you cannot even hope to save yourself, or even your friends. Isn't that what you care about most?"_

"_You're right, I do care about the safety of my friends," Raiden replied, looking him straight in the eye. "But I don't need your help anymore. Next time I will not let myself go down that path."_

"_Whether or not you're willing to admit it, the balance is starting to turn in my favor," Noctis replied. "You already have enough anger it seems directed at poor Shadow. I fear you might… turn against him. How tragic… and besides, how do you plan on defeating your future self all by yourself? It is hopeless."_

"_I've already been in hopeless situations before," Raiden said, closing his eyes and smiling. "And yet, I've managed to pull myself out. I will find my own way to defeat you, present or future. I can promise you that."_

_When there was no reply, Raiden could only smile with pride. At least he got the final word in for once…  
_

* * *

(A/N: I swear when I'm done with both of these stories I'm going back to comedy. It's too dramatic for me. But I will say I'm quite pleased with how I'm turning Raiden to the dark side! *maniacal laughter* This makes me want to watch Revenge of the Sith now. Maybe I'm getting too much inspiration from that movie doing this. I don't know, but anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you want to see the thrilling climax of this story, tune in NEXT TIME! Oh and by the way if you're asking, "How does he know Dark-Type moves?" it's self-explanatory!)

FoxMcCloud7921


	11. Resentment

(A/N: So I think once I get done with this chapter I'm gonna go back to Matt and the gang's part of the story and then it'll probably start flip-flopping again.)

* * *

Chapter 11: Resentment

Once Shadow and RiRi were out of the forest, it had started downpouring. With the trees being bare, there really was no cover to hide under. Soaking wet, RiRi shivered slightly and tried using her tail to warm her up. But it was soaked too so that didn't help in the slightest.

"You alright?" Shadow asked. They were sitting under a tree that had a hole in the center that could be used to sleep in.

"I'm fine…" RiRi muttered.

"If you're still thinking about before, we had no choice," Shadow said, sighing. "Raiden wanted us to get out and we did."

"It still doesn't make me feel better…" RiRi said softly. The only thing that mattered to her right now was seeing Raiden, running up into his arms and holding him close to her. That would make everything better. Soon she couldn't take it anymore and got up. "I'm gonna go take a look around, in case perhaps Raiden is lost."

Shadow didn't even bother asking if she wanted company, the tone in her voice said it all. He simply nodded and watched her go.

The rain and the darkness from the clouds make it hard to see, but RiRi always did sense better with her ears. It wasn't long before she heard something and there was a fifty-fifty chance it could be Raiden. Good thing she was right. "Raiden!" she cried out, running towards and jumping into his arms. She held onto him tight as he held her back just as tightly. "I'm sorry…" she said softly. "I wanted to wait for you… but-"

"It's alright RiRi," Raiden replied, kissing her softly. "I'm a little banged up but I'm alright, don't worry."

RiRi noticed that he seemed a little tense. "Raiden?" she asked, looking up at him. "Are you alright? Did something happen?"

Raiden could only look away slightly. "It's nothing…" he said. But realizing he couldn't keep it in him, he added, "I just need to talk to Shadow… that's all."

RiRi's eyes widened slightly. "W-Wait Raiden!" she said, trying to stop him. "Please don't be angry at him, I'm sure he didn't expect what happened would happen."

"I'm not angry," Raiden snapped, obviously not feeling the need to hide it. "Don't worry about it."

RiRi could only sigh as she followed him back. Once they did get back, Shadow looked at him and said, "Nice to see you're still in one piece."

"You're welcome for me helping us get out of there," Raiden sourly.

"Well, you volunteered to stay behind," Shadow said calmly.

"Oh cut the crap!" Raiden yelled, his cheeks all of a sudden sparking. "I was the one who said we shouldn't go there and you insisted that it had to be done! Well, turns out it was all a big waste of nothing wasn't it!"

"It was better than doing nothing," Shadow said calmly, turning to him. "You think I wanted to risk our lives in unfamiliar territory? What do you want me to do Raiden?"

"How about for once I make the calls!" Raiden kept yelling.

Shadow couldn't help but smile. "Because I know you would make a similar mistake as I did." That answer was followed by a Shadow Ball attack that missed him by inches. His smile suddenly faded. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Keep joking around like that and I won't miss the next time…" Raiden growled.

"Raiden!" RiRi cried, who was in shock.

"So…" Shadow then said, getting up. "This is what happened, huh? When you two were away? Something happened to you Raiden, and now it's finally shown itself to me."

"Don't you dare even lecture me Shadow," Raiden warned. "You're one to talk. You were messed with at a young age, creating two moves that almost killed your own trainer!"

Shadow glared at him. "That's personal…" he growled.

* * *

(A/N: For this next part, the song I'm using is "Invasion" from Bleach.)

* * *

*"Well I've had it with your attitude," Raiden said. "If you really think you're all that, then how about you show it for once?"

The sudden attack from Shadow caught him by surprise and knocked him back. "If you really think you can take me on, then how about you put your money where your mouth is!" Shadow snarled.

Raiden quickly rebounded and used Thunderbolt, but Shadow was quick, dodging the attacks with ease. He then jumped into the air and used Hyper Beam which caught Raiden off guard and was then pummeled by the force of the attack, causing a huge hole to be made into the ground.

"Shadow, Raiden! Please stop this!" RiRi cried out.

"Just stay out of this RiRi!" Shadow yelled at her, causing her to flinch in surprise. All she could do was hang her head in despair…

Soon a Dark Pulse erupted from the ground and knocked Shadow back right into one of the trees. "That does it…" he then said. "It's time to put you in your place Raiden!" He then used an attack no one had ever seen him use before. Using Giga Impact, he raced forward at Raiden. Seeing the attack, Raiden responded by using Volt Tackle. The two attacks met head-on, but Shadow's proved to be stronger as Raiden's attack gave out and he was sent sprawling crashing into the trunk of another tree.

Groaning in pain, Raiden looked up and saw Shadow was right in front of him, looking as if he would attack once more. However, he hesitated and turned away. "You're not worth the trouble," he then said. He then started walking away. "I'm done with this; you can find your own way back." He walked past RiRi and turned to her. "What are you going to do RiRi?"

RiRi looked at him and then looked to Raiden, who was panting hard and looked to be in pain. Instead of a response, she could only bow her head. "I understand," he then said. "Then let's hope we see each other again soon." He started walking away into the night, and it was then that RiRi finally got up and called out his name, several times. As she probably had expected, no response.

Raiden looked at her, feeling the shame and guilt caused by his actions. While he could not hear it or see it, he could tell RiRi was crying.

* * *

The next day and a half was a long period, mostly because the previous night and now, RiRi did not speak a word to him. Even when he tried to talk to her, she would glare at him and warned him with her cheeks sparking. All in all, Raiden was miserable. His anger and frustration caused him to lose his friend and even worse, he could now lose his own true love.

The hours went by as Raiden sat against a rock, close to where the small lake was. Looking out to it, he wondered how long it would be before they would go home. _If _they went home. He sighed and looked at RiRi, who was by the lake getting some water. An idea then popped into his head. It was a risky move, and if it didn't work, it would end horribly for him.

While she was not looking, Raiden slowly sneaked up on her and once he was close enough, he suddenly pushed her into the lake, causing a yelp of surprise from her. Once she resurfaced, she gave Raiden the worst glare she could ever produce. To any Pokemon, it would make them flinch tenfold. "What the hell was that for!" she snapped at him.

Raiden smiled. "Sorry RiRi, I tripped and fell and I accidentally knocked into you." It was a terrible lie and he knew it. The look on RiRi's face was not a pretty sight, but then she did something he had not expected. She came over and then grabbed and pulled him in as well, causing him to yelp in surprise. The fact that she could pull him in said a lot. And for the first time, RiRi smiled, even if it was merely a smirk.

"Now we're even," she said, but she still gave him an evil look.

Raiden, trying to get back at her, initialized phase two. He then went up to her and kissed her right on the mouth, catching her by surprise again. Normally she would've sparked him as punishment but being in the water would jolt her as well. She tried to push him back but he held onto her and pressed her into the side of the lake and soon RiRi gave up resisting and kissed him back. "Damn it Raiden, sometimes I wish you weren't so charming," she then growled afterward.

"Is that why you fell in love with me?" Raiden asked innocently.

RiRi smiled slightly. "Maybe." She then got out and shook the water out of her fur. "I'm still mad at you though," she said then. "And don't assume that cause we're alone we can do _stuff_. I'm considering revoking your privileges."

The shocked and disappointing look on Raiden's face caused RiRi to smile more and soon she went back to her spot and curled up. Despite saying all that, she was fibbing the entire time… _"Consider that your punishment Raiden," _she thought with a smirk on her face.

* * *

(A/N: Okay, so I know this chapter was a little bit shorter but I didn't feel like going into the other part of the story just yet, probably cause I'm lazy. Eh… Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm kind of sad cause I won't be able to celebrate Halloween this year. -_- Oh well…)

FoxMcCloud7921


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